The Things We Live For
by RavensIvy
Summary: Abby and Ziva are in love, but their work seems to be getting in the way of their newly found romance.. My first attempt at a fanfic please r&r and tell me what you think. Please review I have had 242 hits but no reviews! Arg! Review people! Please!
1. Love At First Sight

Chapter 1 – Love At First Sight

Abby Sciuto walked slowly into the packed room, her keen eyes searching for her lover, Ziva David. Spotting the Israeli's unmistakeable dark hair, Abby suddenly quickened her pace, almost skipping across the room to where Ziva was.

"Hi!" Abby greeted her mate happily.

"Hey" Ziva returned the greeting, though it was clear her mind was elsewhere. Abby left her alone and went to find the others.

"Abby?! What are you doing here?!" Field Agent Tony DiNozzo exclaimed, rather surprised to see Abby out of her lab and in the main NCIS office.

Abby glared at Tony,

"What? It's so amazing that I'm up here?! I come up here quite a lot actually!!" Tony started to reply but was interrupted by Gibbs' appearance.

"What's your problem DiNozzo?" Gibbs was back to his old self, wanting action and fast.

"N-n-nothing, Boss" stuttered Tony. Gibbs gave him a look, but said nothing. He was enjoying this, Abby could see.

"Hey, Gibbs! Any new cases?" Abby was pleased to see Gibbs, and clearly wanted same new evidence to investigate. There hadn't been a case for some days, and the team members were getting bored.

"Sorry Abs." Sighed Gibbs, who wanted a new reason to boss his team around,

"Nothing new, I'm afraid"

"Awwwwwww" Abby groaned. Gibbs shrugged,

"I know you want a case Abs, but aren't you still exhausted from working so hard on the last case? Don't you want to go home and catch up on lost sleep?" Abby's face almost lit up then fell,

"Um… Actually, Gibbs, I would rather be here working on evidence than at home... At home, I would be alone in a cold house…" Gibbs raised his eyebrows and gave her a surprised look,

"Besides, I've caught up on all the sleep I've lost already!! I'm ready for a new case and more late nights!!" she added, excitedly.

"But Abs, I thought you liked being alone in a cold place? That's what it's like when you're in your lab isn't it?"

"… Yeah, I guess... But, when I'm in my lab, I'm usually doing something..."

"So why don't we do something?" Ziva asked suddenly, making Abby jump.

"There you go Abs" Gibbs nodded in Ziva's direction, grinning slightly.

"Spend the evening with Ziva. I'm sure the pair of you can find something to do to 'entertain' yourselves" Gibbs knew the two of them were together, and he didn't want to let either of them forget they were still members of his team, ready to follow orders at any time.

Ziva shot Gibbs a glare, before leading a blushing Abby from the room.

"So what **should** we do tonight?" Ziva asked as they walked towards Abby's car. Abby sighed,

"I dunno… I wanna investigate more evidence… I want to make sure the equipment in my lab still works – it hasn't been used in _**four days!!**_ It might start to get rusty..." Abby complained. Ziva did her best to reassure her,

"Come on sweetie! Surely your equipment can't go rusty in four days. It's gone longer without being used before, hasn't it? What about when you go on holiday? Come on; forget work for a bit. Have some fun. Your equipment will be ok, I'm sure." Ziva was desperate to get Abby in a good mood, not wanting to spend the night with a bad tempered Abby. Before they had become a couple, she remembered having some experience with Abby's temper, and she did not want to go there _EVER_ again.

"I suppose…" Abby agreed, reluctant.


	2. Abby  Ziva  ?

Chapter 2 – Abby + Ziva ???

Later that night, Abby and Ziva lay across each other on one of the couches in Ziva's living room. Abby was fast asleep, but Ziva had been awake for a half hour or longer. A few minutes later, Abby moved, and started to stir.

"Hello there" Ziva whispered softly, stroking Abby's black hair gently as it lay, spread out across Ziva's chest.

"What time is it?" Abby groaned, not really wanting to wake. Ziva shuffled her arm out from under Abby and checked her watch.

"It's 4am – you had quite a sleep you know. I think you were still tired from that case, though you probably didn't realise it." Abby smiled, not wanting to be anywhere else. 'At this point', she thought, 'I could stay here for a long time yet'. Sadly though, her longing thought was to be interrupted by the loud ringing of Ziva's cellphone. Groaning, both women carefully untangled themselves from each other, and Ziva opened her phone.

"David" she said, her voice smooth and sharp.

"Ziva, we've got a case. Get down here. Now" _click_

Gibbs' voice was strong, his message short, and cryptic, but it told Ziva all she needed to know.

"Abby" She said urgently, but she was smiling "We need to get going. There's a new case. Come on." Grinning, Abby was suddenly wide awake.

"Really?! Ok then! Let's go!" she said, almost in more of a hurry than Ziva herself. Ziva chuckled,

"Alright then. Let me get my stuff."

Abby was waiting for Ziva in the car, when she finally appeared almost 10 minutes later. "Ziiiiiiiiiva!!! Hurry up! The sooner we get there, the better!" Ziva giggled,

"Alright, Abby! Alright.." she said, eyes glistening with thought, "Fasten your seatbelt and prepare for the ride of your life!" Abby grinned slyly back at Ziva,

"Ok then! Let's go!" and with that, Ziva slammed her foot on the accelerator and they were off.


	3. A New Case

Chapter 3 – A New Case

The trip from Ziva's to headquarters, Abby knew, would have taken any 'normal' driver 45 minutes. However, she also knew that Ziva was NOT a 'normal' driver, in fact far from it. 'Perhaps', she wondered, 'That might be the reason why the trip barely took 20 minutes. "Whoa! I see what you meant!" Abby breathed to Ziva, once they had finally come to a stop in the NCIS carpark. Ziva turned to Abby, "Now you know why Gibbs only lets me drive when it's urgent!" she laughed, "Because I drive so fast! Any other time, I'd probably get a speeding ticket!!"

"..."

"Gibbs wouldn't like that at all" Ziva added with a grin, as they walked out of the lift together. "Exactly **what** wouldn't I like, Ziva?" Gibbs growled, at the mention of his name.

"Nothing, I –"

"What's the case, Gibbs?!" Abby interrupted, excitedly.

"Homicide. Female. Found dead in her apartment with stab and bullet wounds"

"Any I.D.?" Ziva asked "Relatives? Fri –"

"No I.D. relatives, friends and neighbours, all being tracked down as we speak. DiNozzo's handling it.. C'mon Ziva, **we're** going to the crime scene. Later, Abs" Gibbs answered Ziva's question before it was finished, and was already thinking ahead.

"DiNozzo, where's McGee?" Tony shrugged,

"I dunno, Boss. Where could he –"

"Find him, DiNozzo. Now."

"On it boss.. I'll get right onto it, oh, I mean uh him.."

"I'll get the truck organised, yes?" Ziva suggested to Gibbs, smiling in Abby's direction as she spoke.

"Do it. See if you can find McGee on your way. Ask him why he isn't here when I need him." Ziva nodded and turned to leave, but Gibbs hadn't finished.

"Oh, and can you quit smiling like a damn chipmunk?!"


	4. Missing McGee

Chapter 4 – Missing McGee

Abby stood in the middle of the main NCIS room, feeling very alone and for once, not liking it. Shrugging, she headed down to her lab, wishing some evidence would appear. She hoped it wouldn't be long before she had something to do. She was already bored and her day had barely started.

DiNozzo came back into the main room, hoping he wouldn't be noticed by Gibbs. Sadly for him, he wasn't so lucky.

"DiNozzo, you're back. Did you find McGee yet?"

"Noooo……. Sorry boss…"

"Have you looked everywhere?"

"…"

"_Everywhere, _DiNozzo??"

"Everywhere between here and where I was going, Boss… no sign of him."

"I see" Gibbs paused, choosing his next words carefully, "Well DiNozzo; I don't even **want** to know where you went. But I suggest you go find McGee. Fast. Look everywhere. And this time, make sure everywhere, is EVERYWHERE! Not just between here and wherever you are going. Got it?" DiNozzo nodded, face flushed. Gibbs shook his head in slight disbelief as DiNozzo left the room. When DiNozzo re-entered the room, 10 minutes later, he looked straight at Gibbs and shook his head. "McGee is nowhere to be found, boss. He probably has an 'appointment' or something." Gibbs grunted. "Well, we don't have time to find him right at the moment. We've got things to do, a crime scene to investigate, people to interview, evidence to discover. " Gibbs stopped his vaguely excited rant and grew serious again. "DiNozzo, tell security to watch for McGee. If he comes back here, I need to know."

Arriving at the crime scene a mere 20 minutes later (Ziva had been granted permission to drive), Gibbs had to admit, it was smart to let Ziva drive in urgent situations. However, he was beginning to wonder exactly how situation were deemed urgent (Ziva had driven to the last three crime scenes)"right. Let's get cracking! Ziva, get statements from people. Find out as much as you can. Neighbours, friends, family members. I want to see them back at headquarters. All of them. DiNozzo, go and start processing the crime scene."

"Bo-" DiNozzo opened his mouth to protest, but was stopped a moment later

"Now, DiNozzo." Gibbs barked, glaring at him

Ziva, on the other hand, was already striding off towards the houses neighbouring the crime scene. She knew better than to argue with Gibbs. 'Especially' she thought as she walked up to the first house, 'when McGee isn't here to be whacked!'

When the team arrived back at NCIS headquarters, Ziva was sent to ask security if they had seen Tony. They hadn't. So, of course, she went to inform Gibbs and the rest of the team. As expected, he was not happy to find out that one of his team had disappeared. He wasn't necessarily angry at McGee (though he might get angry at him later); he was more concerned for his safety and just wanted to know why he hadn't been there when he was needed.


	5. Abby's Realisation

Chapter 5 – Abby's Realisation

The NCIS team worked hard all afternoon, sifting through the information they had collected at the crime scene earlier. As usual, there was a body to be sent down to Ducky and Palmer (Dr Mallard and Mr Palmer), people to interview and collect statements from; and forensic evidence to be sent to Abby. Ziva was given the forensic samples, and sent down to Abby's lab. Although she was happy to be sent to do this, she knew she could not stay to talk to Abby long, as Gibbs had other jobs that needed to be done, urgently.

Ziva hurried down to Abby's lab, clutching the samples from the crime scene. Abby was at her computer as usual, when she burst in, searching people in advance. She did not hear Ziva come in.

"Abby. Here are some more samples, from the scene and people involved. Fingerprints, hairs, stuff like that." Abby nodded, her face serious, but she was grinning; glad to be exploring evidence as usual. This was one of the reasons Abby Scuito got up in the morning. The other, was standing behind her, about to go and see if Ducky had finished the autopsy report. Abby sighed, this was her life, and she loved it. She had everything she needed, a job, a lover, everything.


End file.
